How Does Steinbeck Present Curley's Wife Do During The Great Depression
Even though women won the right to vote in 1920, that still did not change how women were seen in this time period. Women during the Great Depression had a lot responsibility. They struggled to take care of their families and always had difficulties finding jobs to support their loved ones. In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses Curley's wife to represent women and to show all the hardships they suffered during this time.
Women struggled a great deal during the Great Depression. Many novels in the 1930s often showed women as the heroic mother. Often when men lost their jobs there were usually two situations that happened. They either remained with their families and relied on the wives to help out or the men just walked out on …show more content…
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrayed Curleys wife as unloved and lonely. Curley’s wife was pretty because Slim said “Hi, Good-lookin” (Steinbeck 32; ch. 2) and Steinbeck described her as “She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in rolled clusters, like sausages” (Steinbeck 31; ch. 2). Curley's wife was referred to as “Curley's wife” and never by her real name. By doing this, Steinbeck shows that she is just an item like many women were to men during the Great Depression and being referred to as Curley's wife just shows she does not have much importance. The reader often see in Steinbeck's writing that he makes women invisible and not very important …show more content…
One of the main characters in particular is not the biggest fan of her and that is George. When George first met her right after she walked away, the first thing he says was “Jesus, what a tramp,” he said “So that’s what Curley picks for a wife” (Steinbeck 32; ch. 2). George knows that Curley is just using her. George told Lennie to stay away because “she is a rattrap if i ever seen one” (Steinbeck 32; ch.2). Curley’s wife has many things in common with women from the Great Depression but one thing that was not usual was that she did not have to go out and find a job like most women did. Curley was the one that supported her when it came to money. Curley’s wife had hopes and dreams for herself that she never got
Women struggled a great deal during the Great Depression. Many novels in the 1930s often showed women as the heroic mother. Often when men lost their jobs there were usually two situations that happened. They either remained with their families and relied on the wives to help out or the men just walked out on …show more content…
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrayed Curleys wife as unloved and lonely. Curley’s wife was pretty because Slim said “Hi, Good-lookin” (Steinbeck 32; ch. 2) and Steinbeck described her as “She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in rolled clusters, like sausages” (Steinbeck 31; ch. 2). Curley's wife was referred to as “Curley's wife” and never by her real name. By doing this, Steinbeck shows that she is just an item like many women were to men during the Great Depression and being referred to as Curley's wife just shows she does not have much importance. The reader often see in Steinbeck's writing that he makes women invisible and not very important …show more content…
One of the main characters in particular is not the biggest fan of her and that is George. When George first met her right after she walked away, the first thing he says was “Jesus, what a tramp,” he said “So that’s what Curley picks for a wife” (Steinbeck 32; ch. 2). George knows that Curley is just using her. George told Lennie to stay away because “she is a rattrap if i ever seen one” (Steinbeck 32; ch.2). Curley’s wife has many things in common with women from the Great Depression but one thing that was not usual was that she did not have to go out and find a job like most women did. Curley was the one that supported her when it came to money. Curley’s wife had hopes and dreams for herself that she never got